casts_by_fly

I’m hard mounted because that’s what I wanted but you can do it unmounted if you want. It just means connecting each battery when you charge. On the kayak I used a noco genius single that had interchangeable plugs. I left a plug wired to each battery permanently so I just plugged the charger into them when I was home. I had to swap them since it was a single bank. The 2 and 4 bank genius have the same plug setups and you could do the same. That said, any reason not to have it onboard? You get higher powered units and don’t have to mess around with multiple connections every trip. I love that I back my boat into the garage and there is a plug within reach of my charger cord.

Not in a million years. That’s a 10+ year old basic chirp black and white unit that looks like it’s been sitting in the corner of a dusty garage all that time. I wouldn’t put it on the boat if you paid me to do it let alone buying it. If you’re looking for a FF for that price range:

That’s a nice chunk. I love seeing the big heads on largemouth. They just scream 5+. The ponds here went from “just a little on the edge” yesterday to mid gray in color and a good bit more thawed today which means the ice is getting THIN. I think by mid day tomorrow they should largely be cleared so I’m going to go check out the little ones over the hill. Doesn’t count for my ice out prediction date (that will be the day the boat drops in) but a dink will make me a happy man.

Have you put the other spools into this frame?

Put it where it is convenient. The weight is immaterial here. If you put it in the front then keep your tackle bag and lunch box in the back. Not sure what connections come on the Edge (if that’s what you stick with). If it is o-ring connectors then put the motor in the front and wing nut it on. If it is plugs then you’ll have to wire something anyway to make it convenient.

Have you tried swapping around the spools from each of the reels? That will diagnose if the spool or the side plate is the issue. Also, I assume when you’re pulling them apart and putting them back together that you’re backing the spool tension knob entirely off. If you have spool tension it will push the spool out from the handle side frame as you’re seating the side plate and you risk binding it up.

Awesome. Looks like the carpet is in pretty good shape after a vacuum. It’s looking pretty sharp. Just one thing though: Fixed that for you.

It looks like they have gone around the HBird patent by making a pole that spins the transducer rather than spinning the transducer itself (a very minor distinction, but I'm sure their legal team has studied it). Or maybe they paid a license to HBird. Either way, I'm sure it will be pretty good from the start. The reason HBird was behind on FFS at the start was a hardware limitation. They chose to dumb down ML1 so that it was usable on the Helix systems which only had som uch power and bandwidth. When they upgraded to ML2 they caught up to LVS32 and beyond it. It's arguably as good as LVS34. I would suggest that the garmin 360 should be pretty good from the start and with the benefit of allowing you to put a livescope xD on the pole. That gives a separate control of the FFS from the motor which will be a benefit to some.

It looks clean and otherwise in good shape. Take it to an expert and let them do it before you screw anything up. Then you'll have it for another 20 years.

@bulldog1935 and thus the comment cents measurement system was born. Rod builders recognized exactly what you describled on fly rods and Bill Hanneman came up with a way to fix it. If only all manufacturers would measure their rods and publish the results.

@Anfrobodine - for a single head unit, black box, and transducer, a 50 AH lithium is good for a long day and still have a little reserve. If you're powering 2 head units and leaving it in the boat, you might as well just go straight to a 100 ah (or whatever size your TM batteries are). The cost difference at that point is minimal and having extra power is never a bad thing. It also means if you blow a TM battery you could swap it in an emergency.

The transom mount trolling motor on the back will help as a skeg. Fishingmickey is right about keeping something down on the back. Heck, if the gas motor starts and runs then I’d maybe leave it on there as emergency backup. But a transom mount trolling motor will help a bunch.

The ponds here are deicing around the edges, especially if they have some water flow or an open north bank. I think the warmth from today will keep melting some more tonight and the sun tomorrow (and hotter!) is going to get some more melt done. It’s enough that Wednesday afternoon I’ll swing by the little ponds and try to catch a couple dinks. I also found that the big lake has a USGS camera at the dam so you can see the ice status. That’s also where the ramp is. Lots of melt progress there. The local guy posted drone shots and all of the first melt areas (around docks, under bridges, etc) are starting. Two more days of 75 and sunny are going to knock a LOT of ice off the water. @Hartwood71 - which lake is that? Private I assume.

A 45 is plenty on a boat of that size and weight. But as always, there is no harm having more and not needing it. You can turn the power down below 10 on a bigger motor but you can’t go above 10 on a small one.

When you're looking at the capacity stated on the reel, you also have to consider if they rated it with JDM mono or US mono. JDM reels will almost certainly use the JDM mono like sunline or similar. And braid is never the breaking strength stated. So saying that a reel is rated for 40 lb braid, it depends on the type of braid (4/8/9/13 carrier) and how the company rates it. If they list a diameter, treat it with a grain of salt because most braid isn't consistent. The easiest way to get it right is to start with an empty spool and start winding on the braid until you get enough. Then tie on your backing and fill the reel. Now either reel it onto 2 other spools that are empty or go cast it in the yard and spool it. Walk to the backing, tie it on, and crank it up.

@Randy Price - I agree with bulldog. When you can buy a brand new JDM stradic for $150, that's a hard price point to sell a couple generations old reel at. I might have a spare spool in the basement (not sure 2500 or 4k size). I'll check when I get home.

@Bluebasser86 - If microjigs are your thing, i really love the sieberts lil man with a trailer of your choice. Pick your favorite ned rig plastic and just stick it on the back. Basically a ned rig with a skinny skirt. They look awesome in the water with a bunch of different trailers. Just real fishy.

If you’re chasing fish that are chasing bait balls then it matters. If you’re not specifically targeting those fish then it matters less. In your first two posts I see 6 different questions, not to mention the title. So you’re going to get a whole bunch of different answers.

For me it depends. I’ve always been a no music type while fishing and just listen to nature, but a couple years ago my buddy put a waterproof Bluetooth speaker in a white elephant just for me so I started carrying it in the kayak and now in the boat. I maybe use it 1/3 of the time on the water. If I’m fishing an urban type lake with lots of traffic around, if I’m on a party lake with powerboats running around, or if I’m on a lake house lake with people already playing music then I’ll put something on. Generally I’m not fishing in those circumstances though. So most of the time I am in the quiet listening to the world around me.

Are you chasing fish that are chasing bait (with FFS) or are you fishing structure and cover without it? If you’re chasing fish, then find the bait. Start at the mouth of a creek and start scanning up it until you find it. Find the cover that bass will hold on nearby and start fishing. Rinse and repeat for other arms. If you’re searching the good ol’ fashioned way, then figure out where they are going to spawn, where they are going to winter, and pick a line between those places. I pick my start based on the weather and temps. If the main lake surface temps are still in the upper 40’s and low 50’s then the fish probably aren’t that far along so I’ll start on the main lake side and and go up the line shallower. If the main lake is upper 50’s or even 60’s then I’m starting at the shallow end of that line, looking for beds, and then working my way back out.

I would (and did) go lithium from the go. You don’t have any lead acid infrastructure or specific need. For a trolling motor, lead acid is ideal because you get the full voltage through the life of the charge. With lead batteries you have a constant drawdown of the current which slows the motor. You don’t have a high power capacity needed for what you’re doing. A basic 12-100ah from LiTime is about $225. A farm fleet AGM costs that and more depending which you buy and the lithium will have more capacity. I assume since you didn’t have a boat before you need to get a charger also.

I can’t give you a definite bet, but I would give FishUSA a call tomorrow or Monday. They are free shipping over $59 and are a big yakattack dealer. Also a small shop out of Erie so you’ll get a real person in the office.

Nice! Congrats.

There is a local weather guy who tracks the big lake around the corner and posts various updates on weather, water levels, conditions, etc. Today he said that there was 16” of ice on the lake this year that is just starting to melt. That’s a lot more than I was expecting. He has three different calculation methods for ice out and all were leading him to say around march 22 plus minus a couple days. That’s about an inch per day.

We had 40-42 and 1.2” rain over the past 36 hours so that took care of a lot of snow in the woods and lawns. There is still some ice from the first snow that is packed to the ground, but it will all be gone in 2 days with the sun and heat we’re having. I rode past a couple of small ponds on the way to run errands today and there is a little melt in the upper ends where there is some flow in, but nothing substantial. I’ll go for another check tomorrow at the ones I fish early season (with a rod in the truck) but I don’t expect to be able to fish it. But… by Wednesday I think there should be enough cleared to drop the boat in on a lake so…